


This Is Home

by LilBittyMonster



Series: Mollymauk Lives Fest [9]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Found Family, Mollymauk Lives Fest, Multi, the Mighty Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 09:50:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15946880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilBittyMonster/pseuds/LilBittyMonster
Summary: A slice of life on the Mighty Nein's farm





	This Is Home

**Author's Note:**

> Day 9: Domestic and Found Family

Caleb poured the boiling water over the sachet of leaves, bundling the woven blanket he had wrapped around his shoulders closer as he did so. Footsteps behind him sounded softly on the wooden floor and a familiar pair of arms snaked around his waist. A decorated pair of horns jingled softly as Mollymauk nuzzled his face into Caleb’s neck.

“ _Guten morgen, Liebe_ ,” Caleb said softly.

“Mm, _guten morgen_ ,” Mollymauk echoed, his accent pulling the words slightly out of shape.

Caleb smiled fondly and turned in his arms, brushing back a lock of purple hair that had fallen into his face. Molly blinked back sleepily and leaned in for a chaste kiss.

“Your Zemnian is improving,” Caleb whispered as they broke apart again.

“You think so?” Mollymauk asked, masking his excitement behind a smirk.

“I know so,” Caleb said before kissing him again, slowly backing them up until Molly’s back was pressed against the opposite counter, caged in by the human’s arms.

“Oh, Mister Caleb,” Mollymauk purred against his lips.

“Mister Mollymauk,” he responded in kind, wrapping his arms around the his back and holding him close.

“Hey, Caleb, could you come help us?” Nott asked from the living room, her scratchy voice carrying into the kitchen.

“Ja, I will be out in a moment,” Caleb called back, stifling a grunt into Molly’s shoulder as the tiefling grabbed his backside.

“ _Du Teufel_ ,” he murmured playfully.

“I don’t know what you just said but it sounded dirty,” Mollymauk replied cheekily with a kiss to his temple. “Go on, I’ll get your tea.”

Caleb pressed another quick kiss to his cheek before stepping back and out into the open space. Nott and Jester were on opposite sides of a large pile of puzzle pieces, some bits assembled here and there. Nott looked up as he folded himself to sit next to her.

“We can’t seem to get the border started,” she said, toying with a bit she had put together on the carpet.

“It isn’t one of those borderless puzzles, right?” Caleb asked.

Nott’s eyes widened. “I hadn’t even thought of that! Jester, where’s the box?!”

“Right here, right here,” she said, pulling the lid from behind her. She perused the back description for a few moments, frowning as she got to the end. “It doesn’t say.”

Nott’s ears drooped.

“Well, spread them out a bit more, see if we can find any pieces that have just a straight edge,” Caleb suggested, pawing through the pile.

“You’re so smart, Caleb,” Nott told him, as expected.

“You would’ve gotten there on your own, you’re a bright girl,” Mollymauk told her as he handed Caleb his mug before settling in on his other side. “Where’s everyone else, by the by?”

“Yasha and Beau are outside sparring, Caduceus is in the garden, and Fjord went into town,” Jester informed him absently, arranging pairs of pieces and discarding them again and again.

Molly nodded, taking a sip of his own tea before diving into the pile next to Jester. “I wonder if the rhubarb is ready,” he commented.

“I know!” Jester exclaimed, “I’ve been wanting to make pies for months.”

The sun was slanting into the room when Caduceus came back inside, carrying the scent of freshly turned earth and living things with him. Frumpkin followed behind him, jumping up on the back of the couch to clean his paws.

“Morning, you two,” he greeted Caleb and Molly. “Or….is it still morning?”

“Only just,” Caleb said without looking up from his bit of the border.

“Well, there we go, perfect timing,” the firbolg rumbled as he made his way to the kitchen.

“Are the rhubarb plants ready yet?” Jester called after him.

“I had a talk with them, they said in about a week or so,” Caduceus replied, poking his pink haired head around the corner of the doorway.

Jester wiggled happily in place, her tail swishing dangerously close to the pile of puzzle pieces still next to her. “Ooooh, I can’t wait,” she said grinning.

“Caleb, you can stop if you want to,” Nott said suddenly, causing the man to look at her puzzledly. “You’ve been looking at your book quite often,” she added.

“No, no, I don’t mind,” he assured her.

Nott just tilted her head knowingly. Caleb just ducked his head a little and shrugged.

“Really, it’s fine. We got it from here,” she said with a pat on his knee.

He ruffled her hair affectionately as he stood with a groan, joints popping as he took his now-cold mug of tea and settled back on the couch, opening the pages to the marker. He distantly heard Caduceus join the group on the floor, talking quietly with Jester and Mollymauk about the garden. The white noise of their conversation faded into the distance as Caleb was reabsorbed by his story.

Some time later, he felt the couch beside him dip as Mollymauk settled himself into Caleb’s lap, looking up fondly at him.

“Hey, handsome,” he said brightly, lacing his fingers with Caleb’s.

“Puzzle get too boring for you?” Caleb asked lightly.

Molly just shrugged. “Rather be over here with you,” he said simply.

Caleb’s chest warmed at that, and his face broke into an involuntary grin. He leaned down to give his tiefling a kiss on the forehead before returning to the page, idly brushing his thumb over Mollymauk’s knuckles. The tiefling resettled his head, horns pressing into Caleb’s thighs in a familiar pattern as he did so. Frumpkin got down off the back of the couch to curl up instead on Molly’s chest. With his free hand Molly scritched behind his ears.

By the time Beau and Yasha returned from their sparring match, sweating and panting, Caleb had given up any pretense of reading and instead was gazing down lovingly at Molly’s sleeping face. His tattoo was never boring to look at, and no matter how many times Caleb looked at it he seemed to find more detail. He traced the prominent cheekbones and jaw with care, completely unaware of the glances Jester and Nott were sharing over them.

“Hey, whatcha doin’?” Beau asked loudly, and was immediately shushed by the three on the floor. Jester pointed over at Molly’s sleeping form, and Beau shot an apologetic look their way.

“Sorry,” she stage whispered. “How’s the...the thing going?” she repeated.

“It’s going pretty well so far,” Caduceus answered smoothly. “Probably about a third of the way done, by my guess.”

“Cool, cool.” Beau joined Yasha at the long table with a tankard of water, the two sitting in silence as they drank and cooled down.

“Is Fjord still in town?” Yasha asked softly. Jester nodded.

“Ah, shit, I forgot to ask him,” Beau cursed. She touched the small tattoo under her ear, her words silent as she spoke for a few seconds. After listening for the response, she gave a private smile and took another sip to hide it.

“Hey, Caleb,” Beau asked, “you two not get enough sleep last night?” He didn’t need to look up to know what expression she wore.

“Not really, no,” he replied. He ignored the faint flush that always accompanied questions about his sex life.

“Beau,” Yasha chided softly.

“Sorry,” the monk said unapologetically, though he could hear her smiling. Caleb felt himself smile a bit in return.

“I’m not,” he said, causing her to sputter and choke on her drink. Glancing up he saw her bent over the table, Yasha hiding a smile behind her hand. He could hear Jester giggling to herself to his left.

“Well, I feel disgusting,” Yasha said suddenly, turning to Beau. “Bathhouse?”

“Bathhouse,” Beau agreed, still coughing a bit. She clapped Caleb jovially on the shoulder as she passed.

Mollymauk stirred under Caleb’s hand, letting out a small groan. “Whu’ was tha’?”

“Just Beau,” Caleb told him, smoothing back his hair for what felt like the hundredth time.

“Hmmpf. She being annoying again?”

“Ja, but I got her back for it.”

Molly smiled slowly. “Atta boy,” he murmured.

Caleb chuckled. “Go back to sleep, love.”

“Kay,” Molly replied and snuggled against Caleb, his breathing evening out soon after.

The sun had turned to gold by the time Fjord returned, the sound of the door opening and closing startling Caleb from his doze. Mollymauk lay unperturbed. Jester, Nott, and Caduceus were almost done with the puzzle, only a few gaps left in the garden scene laid out on the carpet. Caleb quickly snapped Frumpkin back to the Feywild before Fjord’s allergies kicked in.

“Hello?” Fjord called into the house.

“We’re in here,” Jester responded.

Fjord came into view with an armload of bags, some wrapped parcels sticking out of the tops of one.

“Yasha ‘n Beau still out sparring?” the half-orc asked disbelievingly.

“ _Nein_ , they finished a while ago,” Caleb said, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

“Huh. Wouldn't surprise me if they were, Beau’s been itchin’ for a fight these past few days,” Fjord said from the kitchen as he put away the produce. “How y’all feel about beef this week?”

A chorus of “that’s fine”’s came from the living room.

“Well, good, ‘cuz that’s all they had left.”

Caleb chuckled under his breath at that.

“I could go hunt some rats or some birds, if we want any,” Nott offered.

“I don’t think you need to, Nott, we have plenty of other things to eat,” Jester said quickly.

“He-ey, Fjord’s back!” Beau exclaimed as she and Yasha came down the stairs. No one had to guess what they were up to.

“Hey, Beau, Yasha,” he nodded to them. “How’d the sparring go?”

“I kicked her ass,” Yasha said casually, taking an apple from the pile of fruit in the bowl.

“She totally did,” Beau confirmed with a dopey smile on her face. “It was awesome.”

She checked over her shoulder to make sure Yasha wasn’t watching, then leaned in towards Fjord and muttered something Caleb didn’t quite catch. Fjord just nodded and handed her a small box. Beau gripped his arm in thanks before rushing back upstairs. Caleb exchanged a confused look with Nott and Caduceus, Jester smiling in that knowing way of hers.

“I can start dinner, if everyone’s hungry?” Yasha offered.

“Sure, sounds good,” Caleb answered.

“There’s onions from the garden, fresh today,” Caduceus informed her as he fit another piece into his corner.

Fjord stooped to give Jester a kiss on her cheek before sitting down with a grunt next to her, unbuckling some of his armour. Jester’s tail circled around behind him once he got comfortable.

“How’s your day been, Jes?” he asked softly.

“It’s been pretty good, Nott and I started this puzzle this morning and then Caleb and Molly helped for a bit, and then Caleb started reading his boring book and then Caduceus helped after he was done gardening, and then Molly fell asleep on Caleb and then they both fell asleep. So it’s just been us three since,” she concluded.

Fjord just laughed. “Sounds like a pretty productive day,” he motioned at the puzzle. “You gonna want to frame this one too?”

“Yah, I’d like to,” she said, hovering over the image with a piece in hand. “If there’s room.”

“Well, if there isn’t we’ll just make room.”

Jester placed the piece and leaned in to kiss Fjord properly. “How was town?”

“Quiet. Nothin’ new. Sylva said that she should be getting in a shipment of cinnamon soon, though.”

Jester’s eyes went wide. “Did you…” she asked breathlessly.

Fjord nodded, unable to contain his smile.

Jester wiggled in glee and tackled the half-orc in a bearhug, knocking them both back into the couch. Caleb sat up at the abrupt movement, startling Mollymauk awake. Beau steadied it from behind as she walked back around.

“Hey, keep the furniture breaking to your room, guys,” she tossed over jokingly. Jester just snickered.

“Fjord, didn’t peg you as an exhibitionist,” Molly joked down at the pair as he rolled over to face the rest of the room.

Caleb sighed and leaned back. Looking over at his friends on the floor, listening to the sounds of Beau and Yasha in the kitchen, threading his fingers through his lover’s hair, he felt a blanket of calm settle on his shoulders, one he was slowly getting more and more used to.

This is his family. This is home.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, I can't believe it's over. This has been an amazing event, I'm so glad I decided to participate. Thank you all so much for reading, I truly appreciate each and every one of you.
> 
> I'm on [tumblr](https://lilbittymonster.tumblr.com/) if you want to say hi :)


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